Five Lone Star Conference men’s basketball teams picked up two wins as No. 7 West Texas A&M, No. 13 St. Edward’s, No. 20 DBU, No. 22 Lubbock Christian and Texas A&M-Kingsville, who is receiving votes in the NABC Top 25 poll, all went undefeated last week. Texas A&M-Commerce and UAFS, and Midwestern State and UT Tyler split their conference matchups.
LSC schedule and results available here:
https://lonestarconference.org/calendar.aspx?path=mbball
LSC BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP
The LSC Men’s Basketball Championship is set for March 2-5-6, 2021, with quarterfinal games on campus sites on Tuesday, March 2. The four winning teams will advance to the final site at the highest remaining seed to play semifinal games on Friday, March 5, followed by the championship game on Saturday, March 6. The top eight teams will qualify for the tournament based on the recently announced
basketball point rating system. The divisional champions will automatically qualify for the tournament and be seeded according to the point rating system. All teams must play a minimum of 11 games to qualify for the conference tournament.
PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
OFFENSIVE
Chandler Jacobs, DBU, SR, Accounting, G, Missouri City, Texas, Elkins HS
Chandler Jacobs averaged 28.5 points and 8.5 rebounds per game in the Patriots' two-game sweep of Oklahoma Christian. On Thursday in Oklahoma City, Jacobs scored a season-high 32 points, one point away from matching a career-high, connecting on 13-of-20 shots. In Saturday's comeback win over the Eagles, Jacobs registered his third double-double of the season, leading all scorers with 25 points and grabbing a game-high 10 rebounds. Trailing by nine points at the half, Jacobs' keyed the Patriots' comeback with 16 of his 25 points coming in the final 20 minutes. For the week, Jacobs shot 65 percent from the field, including 45.5 percent from beyond the arc, and went 12-of-15 from the free throw line while also dishing out five assists.
DEFENSIVE
Emanuel Gant, UT Tyler, SR, Applied Arts & Sciences, G, Phoenix, Ariz., Tempe HS
Emanuel Gant helped lead UT Tyler to its first LSC victory of the season on the defensive end, finishing one rebound shy of consecutive double-digit outputs on the glass in the Patriots' weekend split with Midwestern State. Gant recorded his third double-double of the year with 16 points and 13 rebounds on Thursday, before recording 14 points and nine rebounds in the Patriots' 92-66 win on Saturday. Gant registered three blocks and five steals during the week and helped hold the Mustangs to a season-low 66 points to close out the week, and 38.3 percent shooting from the field over the two games.
WEEKLY AWARDS
Offensive
D-14 Chandler Jacobs, DBU
D-21 Parker Hicks, Lubbock Christian
J-5 B.J. Maxwell, St. Edward’s
J-11 Chandler Jacobs, DBU (3)
J-18 Chandler Jacobs, DBU (4)
Defensive
D-14 Logan Cook, St. Edward's
D-21 Qua Grant, West Texas A&M
J-5 Chandler Jacobs, DBU (2)
J-11 Qua Grant, West Texas A&M (2)
J-18 Emanuel Gant, UT Tyler
SELECTED NOTABLE PERFORMANCES
Joel Murray, West Texas A&M, led the seventh-ranked Buffs to two divisional wins last week averaging 26.0 points, 9.5 rebounds and six assists per game. The junior, who has now scored 20 or more points in four straight contests, put a season-high 28 points in Thursday’s win over UT Permian Basin making a career-high 12 shots while pulling down 12 rebounds for his first career double-double. He also added six assists and six steals. In Saturday’s rematch, Murray scored 24 points with six assists as WT won their ninth straight over the Falcons.
Creighton Avery, Texas A&M-Kingsville, helped lead a Javelina defensive effort that held St. Mary's to 40 percent shooting for the week, a 65.5 scoring average and forced 44 turnovers. For his part, Avery led the team with two blocked shots and collected four steals while also posting team-highs in assists and scoring. In a 70-56 win on Thursday, the junior guard shot 6-of-7 and scored 15 points, grabbed five rebounds, passed out four assists, grabbed two steals and blocked a shot and the Hogs limited their opponents to a 36.2 shooting percentage. When TAMUK and StMU met again on Saturday, Avery added 17 more points, four more assists, a pair of steals and another rejection. Seven of those points came in overtime and helped the Javs capture an 80-75 barnburner that improved their record to 9-1.
Parker Hicks, Lubbock Christian, pushed the Chaps to a pair of divisional wins over Angelo State, averaging 22.5 points per game on the week while shooting 64.3 percent from the field. He scored 16 on an efficient 7-11 shooting in a blowout road win on Thursday before pouring in a career-high 29 points on Saturday in a much closer victory. The Decatur native is now averaging exactly 20 points per game and shooting over 60 percent from the field this season.
B.J. Maxwell, St. Edward’s, led the Hilltoppers to a 2-0 week over Texas A&M International averaging 19.0 points and 4.5 rebounds per game. Maxwell shot 51.6 percent from the floor and put up his fourth 20-plus point game of the season.
Nyk Madison, Oklahoma Christian, shined in a pair of games, shooting 64 percent from the field and averaging 18 points per game. In Oklahoma City on Thursday, he went 10 of 16 from the field while scoring a career-high 22 points to go with six rebounds in a 90-79 loss. He helped stake OC to a 14-point first-half lead on Saturday in Dallas and finished with 14 points on 6-of-9 shooting – along with four rebounds, three assists, two blocked shots and a steal – in a 93-81 loss.
Demarcus Demonia, Texas A&M-Commerce, was the Lions' top scorer in a 1-1 week against UAFS, including 21 points in the second games of the series. He had a double-double in the first contest with 13 points and 10 rebounds. He also added three steals in the second game.
Da'Zhon Wyche, UT Tyler, led UT Tyler to a split with Midwestern State, scoring 19 of his game-high 23 points in the first half of UT Tyler's 92-66 win over the Mustangs on Jan. 16. He made 5 three-pointers in the victory, and he also dished out a season-high 8 assists to lead UT Tyler to its first LSC victory of the season.
Jordan Wilson, Texas A&M-Kingsville, sparked the Javelina offense to two victories over St. Mary's that pushed TAMUK's record to 9-1. He logged his first career double-double in Thursday's 70-56 triumph, scoring 14 points in the second half and finishing the day with 15 to go with 11 rebounds and a pair of assists. On Saturday, two Wilson free throws with eight seconds remaining tied the score at 69 in a contest TAMUK would go on to win in overtime, 80-75. The junior guard ended the evening with nine points and four rebounds.
Logan Cook, St. Edward’s, led the team in rebounding averaging 9.5 rebounds per game while going a perfect 6-of-6 from the floor. He also added two assists and two steals.
Devin Bethely, Texas A&M-Commerce, had four steals in each of the two games for the Lions against UAFS, and now ranks second in the LSC in steals per game at 2.5 steals per game for the year.
Qua Grant, West Texas A&M, continues to pace the Buffs as the junior averaged 22.0 points, eight rebounds and 2.5 steals in WT’s two wins over UT Permian Basin this past weekend. He scored 28 points in Thursday’s win over the Falcons before recording his third double-double of the season on Saturday with 16 points and 13 rebounds, 10 of those on the defensive glass. He is the only player in the LSC to rank in the Top 5 in scoring, rebounding and steals.